Valerie WorthReseñas

Mom read this book to me when I was in my early years of school, and honestly, I wasn’t super impressed back then. I have always enjoyed poetry; the rhythm and rhyme and beautiful perspectives on the world around me have always been favorites of mine. This book, while having excellent poetry, didn’t favor rhythm OR rhyme, so it didn’t appeal to me as a youngster.

Recently, though, I’ve gotten into the habit of reading poetry to my sisters as our bedtime wind-down routine, and after going through quite a few of the poetry books on our shelves, I decided to try this one again—and I was surprised! Freeverse poetry is a work of art in its own right, and over the years since I was a youngster, I’ve learned to appreciate it for what it is—and I ended up loving this collection after all.

These poems are small—just 2-3 verses generally—and all are about very ordinary things, but viewed from a perspective of love and gratitude. Comparison and contrast reign in some poems; others are gentle reflections of sunbeams upon a floor or the hush of wind through the tops of daisies. Some brought laughter (the poem about a dog with fleas, from the fleas’ perspective, was especially memorable!), some brought a contented sigh. All were picturesque—beautiful, a moment of peace at the end of a busy day.

I ended up thoroughly enjoying being able to read this book, and I think my sisters enjoyed it, too. While it may not have the same kind of appeal as A Child’s Garden of Verses or When We Were Very Young, this collection of poetry deserves its place on the shelf as well. I’m sure this won’t be the last time I pick up this book, now that I’ve discovered what a treasure it is!½

Grade 3-4
Ages 4-8
Awards and Honors:

I found it a bit boring and dry but probably just not my taste in poetry. Kids weren't into it either.

> LA PIERRE ENSEVELIE, de Valérie Worth (Roman - Editions Entente). — D'une écriture simple et poétique ce roman lie la terre et le ciel. Histoire d'un alchimiste puis d'un homme et d'une femme de la terre, ce livre nous conduit à la source de l'éternel : « C'était au-delà de tout, et ce n'était nulle part. Et Polly était ce néant, et son être avait disparu. Au-delà de la pensée, de l'être ou du non-être du souffle, au-delà du désir de la vie ou de la mort, elle était comme une lumière répandue jusqu'à devenir invisible, ou comme une ombre entièrement dissoute, laissant seulement l'espace où l'un et l'autre avaient été. »
—L'Originel, (5), Mai-Juin 1978

"Snail: Only compare Our kitchens And bedrooms, Our lamps and Rugs and chairs, To the bare Stone spiral Of his one Unlighted Stairwell." Published after her death in 1994, Animal Poems pairs 23 of Valerie Worth's poems with Steve Jenkins' brilliant cut paper art. The poems are beautiful and sweet and in only a few words describe each animal just so. Children of all ages would enjoy this collection, although they would probably appeal more to the upper elementary set. A great collection to introduce poetry and an inspiration for the writing of it.

Such sweet short poems.

This is a book of different animal poems. It describes each animal and what they're like through poems. These poems are all unique to each animal, and they are all written in different poem forms. This is a great beginner poem book for children.

If you love animals this poem book does a fabulous job of describing animal acts. Geese honking, pug faces described by their pluggy faces and many more animals. The illustrations remind me of collage art. The opposuum is beautifully created. A great book for early elementary!

This book tells about a variety of animals in poetry form. Each animal is described in its unique way and no two poems are alike. Some are long, some are short, some are silly (I like the dachshund one best), and some are beautiful pictures of unlikely creatures.

This is a book of poems, in this book there are 25 different poems. These poems talk about magnifying glasses, kittens, shoes, crabs, weeds, haunted house, and many more random things. I like that a lot of these poems do not rhyme, it teaches children that not all poems rhyme. These poems also ranged from different lengths, some where longer than others, but all got there point across.

This book is a collection of poems inspired by various animals in various settings, including pugs, rabbits, cats, toads, fireflies, cicadas, rats, and surprisingly, a dead mouse on a step. The majority of the settings seem to be in the author's yard, but there is also a poem about a tiger at the zoo and birds flying above the city. There is no clear pattern or correlation between the animals. The poems vary in length, and they do not rhyme. Each is supported by a mixed media illustration that shows texture in a very interesting way.

The central message of this collection of poems is that there is beauty in everything around us. The author compares typically unappealing things to royalty multiple times throughout the book. For example, she compares a cicada coming from it's old shell to a "silver-caped price" being set free.

This collection of poems are all about diffrent animals. They are short, sweet, and straight forward poems.

these are poems crafted for animals, small and large. Poems about dogs, cats, and even rats. Poems to share with you some thoughts about different animals.

Each page is dedicated to an animal with a descriptive poem about it.

This book is basically a collection of poems about Christmas. She did a good job at describing the setting of the poem and giving her audience a view of what she feels during this month. Then she goes on with her poems talking about the decorations she sees throughout Christmas season. For instance, in the poem Wreaths she says, "The glossy circles of pine and holly hung on a hundred doors." I believe this would be perfect to read around the month of December in a classroom because I feel like the kids can relate to what Worth and Frasconi are talking about in these poems.

I see now that all of Worth's books are very similar but since I checked it out, I read this one as well. I really think her books are prefect for the student learning poetry. The books give you tons of diversity within them and different styles to emulate. There is nothing that will blow you away, but the poems are fun and simple.½

Similar to Sill More Small Poems, Worth does a good job at showing different varieties. This particular book covers poems about magnifying glass, kitten (my favorite obviously), safety pin, earth worms, lawnmower, sparrow, magnet, lions, caterpillar, fireworks, flamingo, hose, mosquito, shoes, sea lions, sidewalks, crab, weeds, haunted house, toad, pumpkin, Christmas lights, dinosaurs, and soap bubble all in different lengths and styles.½

An older book of poetry that gets the job done. It covers poems about everything from doors, to honeycombs, to eggs. Great for students because it has a ton of variety in the poems, different lengths, some rhyming and some not, and obviously themes. My favorite from this book was "cat bath" on page 28.½

At Christmastime is a beautiful and festive book of poems about Christmas. There are many short and simple poems in the book that all revolve around Christmas like Wreaths, Light String, Winter Dusk, Ornaments, Tinsel, Candy Cane, Santa Claus, etc, These are all things that get me excited for Christmas time. Everyone loves Christmas or they should at least and this is a great book to read during the season. These are all short and simple poems and many kids would enjoy reading them and they would understand them. The author did a great job describing in each poem. The illustrations are also done very well because they are very colorful and they fit to what the poem is talking about. This could be read to any grade in elementary school because I'm sure they all would love to read about Christmas. But, it might be a touchy subject book for kids who don't celebrate Christmas.

Pug and Other Animal Poems by Valerie Worth and illustrated by Steve Jenkins is a book full of short poems about different animals. The illustrations are huge part of the book due to their details are tied into the descriptive poems about the animals. The poems are short and simple and cover many different animals such as firefly, dachshund, and rat to name a few.
This book was super cute and I really enjoyed reading it despite the fact I usually don’t enjoy poetry. The illustrations draw your eye and help bring the poems to life. I think the short and to the point concept of the poems make it easy for children to relate to their prior knowledge of this animal while possibly learning something knew.
This book would be wonderful to introduce children to the idea of poetry due to its fairly simple words and I think it’s also a good starting point due to the lack of rhyming because all too often children this a poem has to rhyme. I also think when moving to a third grade level this book could be part of a poetry study allowing the children to learn to write in different styles and let them create a drawing to go along with their poems. Overall wonderful book!

Summary – This book has several short poems about the funny behavior of animals. There are poems about a pug, a fox, a fly, and a cat to name a few. The illustrations are what really make the book. They are colorful and bright, connecting the reader to the short poems. With the illustrations, this book is relatable for even young readers.

Personal Response – I really enjoyed reading this book, even though I am not usually a poetry fan. The poems were short and fun to read. The illustrations were adorable and so bright and colorful that they were my favorite part of the book. My 6 year old son also loved this as we had a pug and it reminded him of our dog.

Curricular Connections – This would be a great book for introducing poetry to younger students. It could also be used with older students as examples of certain types of poetry. With older readers, it would be fun to have them read the book and then create their own poetry and illustrations following the format of this book.

This book was simple and adorable. Every two pages is about a different animal. Used this book for my poetry discussion.

The poems in this book are short and very interesting. The pictures matches the poems and help describe what the text.

Small poems again is a series of poetry that is filled with personification. Valerie Worth writes about things such as jacks, telephone poles, asparagus, broom’s and more! Valerie Worth uses a lyrical voice, as she expresses her feelings and emotions about each object she writes about. Although this was not my favorite poetry book, this book would be a great choice to show students if the lesson involved in personification.

This poetry collection goes over a wide range of animals, examining each through a short poem. I really like "Cicada" and how she refers to it as a fairy tale come true. I love how each poem is fueled by an observation of the animal. The illustrations beautifully emphasize the text. Overall, I really loved this collection, I enjoyed picturing each observation I read.½